Penalty kill coming back to bite Sharks

The Sharks struggled on the penalty kill all season, and their inability to deny power-play goals is killing them in this series as well.

San Jose surrendered three power-play goals during its first three short-handed situations and it was the difference in Monday night's 4-3 loss that puts the seventh-seeded Sharks in a 2-1 hole despite winning the first game of the series.

"There's no doubt about it, we have to look at it and fix it," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said of the struggling penalty kill. "We're going to do what we do and do it better."

The Sharks have allowed five power-play goals on 13 St. Louis attempts in the series. This after San Jose ranked last at home on the penalty kill during the regular season.

Special teams are deciding this series, and not just San Jose's inability to stop St. Louis. The Sharks went 1-for-4 on the power play and are just 2-for-11 in the first three games.

"Our power play wasn't very sharp and at this time of the year it has to be," McLellan said.

-----------------------------------------------

NHL Team Report - San Jose Sharks - NOTES, QUOTES

:

--Saturday's Game 2 ended with 88 penalty minutes doled out to the Sharks and Blues in the rough stuff that ensued after the final whistle. That was in sharp contrast to the 44 minutes the team combined for during regulation.

"We have to get to whatever level it takes to win," F Joe Pavelski said. "Sometimes if you have to take a step back it might help, or if you have to push that line and find that line and not go over it."

St. Louis and San Jose are not teams that often engage in beyond-the-whistle physical battles, so it wouldn't surprise either side if that part of the series dies down as the games stretch toward a conclusion.

"You understand that it's a game," Pavelski added. "Everyone can get rattled at some point. Your goal is to stay within yourself, play your game and understand what other people are trying to do when there's an action or a word. It doesn't matter. We have to find ways to score goals and win games."

--San Jose has a 3-7 record when losing two of the first three games in a seven-game series all-time.

--One area the Sharks hope home ice does provide an advantage is in the faceoff circle. San Jose finished the regular season with the NHL's second best record there with a 53.3 percent success rate, but have won only 46.7 percent of the draws so far in the two games against the Blues.

"There weren't many times in the regular season when we lost the faceoff battle back to back, and we've done that in this series already," coach Todd McLellan said. The Sharks won the battle of the faceoff circle on Monday (39-33), but it didn't translate to a win.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "They are very good defensively, they outnumber you defensively . . . they get to rebounds and they are physically strong. They battle for their ice and we could do a better job there." -- Coach Todd McLellan talking about the challenges the Blues pose.

-----------------------------------------------

NHL Team Report - San Jose Sharks - ROSTER REPORT

PLAYER NOTES:

--D Brent Burns scored his first-ever playoff goal on a Sharks power play at 16:45 of the first period.

--C Joe Thornton's three assists brings his career playoff assists total to 67. His total with the Sharks is 55, which tops the franchise list.